What is the Future of Web Design?

In a relatively young, constantly changing industry like ours, keeping in step with technological changes is essential. Over the last decade we’ve seen a series of shifts in the way that designers think about website development, resulting in some of the key trends that we use today. This has made website design one of the most exciting and innovative professions around – and helped countless businesses to make effective use of the internet.

Inevitably this raises a number of questions. What is the future of web design? What can we expect to see in 1, 5 or 10 years time? How future-proof are today’s websites and is it worth investing in a new website if it’s going to be out-of-date in just a few short years?

Current Trends: Pageless & Responsive Web Design

When addressing the future of web design it’s important to understand the current web design landscape and the reasons why we now build websites the way that we do.

Responsive web design involves creating websites with fluid grids that adapt to the user’s browsing device. In other words, the same website design allows content to be displayed differently on different devices in order to provide the best possible viewing experience.

This means that today’s ‘current trends’ can be differentiated from previous web design trends in that they are inherently future-proof. The goal of responsive website design is not to impress visitors with a new gimmick; it is intended to give website owners the tools that they need to continue engaging with users even while new devices are being designed and launched.

Pageless design has some of the same characteristics.

You’ve probably used a website that doesn’t seem to have a menu or navigation options; you simply scroll through the content to continue reading about the organisation. We call this pageless design – in reality it is single-page web design. The reason behind the introduction of pageless design is that new devices require the user to scroll, not click. Pageless design responds by allowing the user to simply scroll through the content, following a compelling and simple narrative in order to gain the information that they require.

Pageless design has been primarily used for portfolio sites or creative agencies where the call-to-action is making contact, rather than buying a product, but the principle is very clear.

New Devices & Wearable Technology

As we look to the future it’s clear that new devices and wearable technology are going to be feature very prominently. With Google Glass and a range of tech watches proving to be popular it’s only a matter of time until people are going to want to access the web in new and innovative ways.

With this in mind, we’re confident that website design is progressing at the right pace to make this a possibility. Today’s web design trends are sufficiently future-proof to give website owners the tools that they need to ride with the changes and continue to offer users an exceptional website experience.